Automotive vehicle side view periscope

ABSTRACT

The exposed side of an automotive vehicle fender has an opening therein near its front end, and the dashboard likewise has an opening in it behind the fender. A periscope tube extends from the dashboard opening forward beneath the fender to a point beside the fender opening, where the front end portion of the tube has a side opening facing the fender opening. A mirror in the front end of the tube reflects backwardly therethrough the images formed by light rays reflects backwardly therethrough the images formed by light rays entering the fender opening and striking the mirror. A ground glass that closes the dashboard opening reveals these images to the driver of the vehicle.

United States Patent [1 1 3,682,536 Whitman [4 1 Aug. 8, 1972 154]AUTOMOTIVE VEHICLE SIDE VIEW PERISCOPE [72] Inventor: Larry E. Whitman,27 Fairfield Court, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15201 [22] Filed: July 20, 1970 [21]Appl. No.: 56,556

[52] US. Cl ..350/307, 350/301 [51] Int. Cl. ..G02b 5/08 [58] Field ofSearch ..350/52, 301, 302, 303, 307

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,478,650 12/1923 Hallengren..350/52 2,298,341 10/1942 Brinkley ..350/303 3,501,218 3/1970Zitzelberger ..350/307 2,738,753 3/1956 Eubank ..350/307 2,501,067 3/1950 Lusebrink ..350/302 Primary Examiner-David Schonberg AssistantExaminer-Michael J. Tokar Attorney-Brown, Murray, Flick & PeckhamABSTRACT The exposed side of an automotive vehicle fender has an openingtherein near its front end, and the dashboard likewise has an opening init behind the fender. A periscope tube extends from the dashboardopening forward beneath the fender to a point beside the fender opening,where the front end portion of the tube has a side opening facing thefender opening. A mirror in the front end of the tube reflectsbackwardly therethrough the images formed by light rays reflectsbackwardly therethrough the images formed by light rays entering thefender opening and striking the mirror. A ground glass that closes thedashboard opening reveals these images to the driver of the vehicle.

7 Claim, 8 Drawing figures PATENIEDA B 8 I972 SHEET 1 BF 4 A TTOR/VEVSAUTOMOTIVE VEHICLE SIDE VIEW PERISCOPE Every motorist experiences timeswhen he must drive out of a street or driveway onto a cross street but,due to obstructions to his view at the intersection, he cannot seewhether another vehicle is approaching from either direction on thecross street until he has driven his own vehicle out into the crossstreet far enough to have a clear view to either side. While advancinginto the cross street for this purpose, his vehicle may be struck by onethat he could not see in time.

It is an object of this invention to provide an automotive vehicle withan optical system that permits the driver to see sideways down anintersecting street without first projecting his vehicle out into it.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a perspective view of anautomobile, with parts broken away in section;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary side view of a periscope mounted inthe vehicle on the drivers side;

FIG. 3 is a view of the inner or rear end of the periscope;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary horizontal section of the same periscope;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view, similar to FIG. 3, of the rear end of theperiscope at the end of the dashboard opposite the driver;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the rear end portion of the periscope seen inFIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a horizontal section taken on the line VII- VII of FIG. 5, butshowing the ground glass swung out to its outermost position; and

FIG. 8 is a vertical section taken on the line VIII VIII of FIG. 5.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4 of the drawings, the invention may be appliedto any automotive vehicle whether it be a truck or an automobile,although it generally will be most useful with the latter. The car maybe provided with a periscope on only the drivers side or on both sidesas shown. On the drivers side a generally horizontal periscope tube 1 isrigidly mounted lengthwise of the left-hand front fender 2 beneath itstop. The tube extends from an opening 3 in the left-hand end of thedashboard 4 to a point near the front end of the fender. At this pointthe tube has an extension 5 substantially at a right angle to itconnecting the tube with an opening 6 in the side of the fender. Thisopening is closed by a transparent window 7 held in place by a frame 8and screws 9.

At the intersection of the main tube and its extension there is anupright mirror 11 (FIG. 4) mounted at an angle that will reflect lightrays that enter the fender opening back through the tube. Since thedriver cannot lean down to look through the tube to see what images arereflected by the mirror, opening 3 in the dashboard is closed by aground glass 12 on which the reflected images are projected and revealedlike a picture. This picture of what would be seen through the fenderopening is readily visible to the driver. Therefore, anything moving atthe left of the vehicle and which is reflected by the periscope mirrorcan be seen on the ground glass by the driver, even though he is too farback from the street intersection to see the moving objects directly.With this knowledge, he can avoid a possible accident that might resultif he had to drive out into the cross street far enough to see oncomingvehicles directly.

The ground glass is held in place by a frame 13 and screws 14, whichalso hold the rear end of the periscope tube against the dashboard.

When the vehicle also is equipped with a periscope beneath theright-hand front fender, the construction is the same as just described,except at the dashboard. The opening in the right-hand end of thedashboard is likely to be too far away from the driver for him to seeclearly what is projected on the ground glass at the rear end of theperiscope tube 16. Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 5 to 8, the glass 17 ismounted in a frame 18 that can be adjusted so that the driver can lookdirectly at it. The frame itself is located a short distance away fromthe dashboard, but has vertical side flanges 19 extending forward to it.At the drivers side, the frame flange is connected by a vertical hinge20 to the end of the periscope tube so that the other side of the framecan be swung rearwardly and toward the driver as shown in FIG. 7.

Extending from the top and bottom of the frame forward through thedashboard opening 21 are upper and lower walls 22 and 23 that overlapthe top and bottom of the periscope tube. Starting at the right-handflange 19, walls 22 and 23 are curved in an arc, having the axis ofhinge 20 as its center, back and around to the lefthand sides of thosewalls so that they will not interfere with swinging the frame away fromthe dashboard. The walls are spaced vertically from the tube, but theiredges are provided with vertical flanges 24 and 25 that slide againstits top and bottom.

Inside the periscope tube, along its right-hand side, a vertical mirror27 is mounted on a plate 28, the front end of which is pivoted on avertical axis 29 to the top and bottom walls of the frame in front ofthe tube. At the rear end of the plate there is a guide pin 30 thatextends up through a longitudinal slot 31 (FIG. 6) in the top of thetube. While the frame is closed, the mirror is parallel to the sides ofthe tube as shown in FIGS. 6 and 8. When the frame and ground glass areswung away from the dashboard, the frame pulls the plate and mirrorpart-way out of the tube, with the guide pin sliding in the slot. Thisturns the mirror to the correct angle for reflecting light rays from thefront mirror in the tube onto the ground glass 17.

The frame can be locked in several different adjusted positions by meansof a vertical pin 33 slidably mounted in a bracket 34 attached to thedashboard beneath opening 21. The pin normally projects up through oneof a series of holes 35 (FIG. 7) in the bottom wall 23 of the frame. Acoil spring 36 on the pin holds it in its upper locking position, but itcan be pulled down by a knob 37 on its lower end to disengage it.

To prevent light from entering the right-hand side of the frame when itis swung out, an accordian pleated flexible curtain 40 is secured to theright-hand side of the frame and to the corresponding side of the frontend of the periscope tube. This curtain extends from top wall 22 tobottom wall 23 and overlaps the upper and lower flanges 24 and 25. Thecurtain is completely folded when the frame is closed against thedashboard, as shown in FIG. 6. It is unfolded as the frame is swung out,as shown in FIG. 7.

By using two periscopes as described herein, the driver of the car canlook both ways at a blind intersection without first edging his vehicleout into the cross trafiic. One accident avoided by the use of theseperiscopes will more than pay for them.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, l have explained theprinciple of my invention and have illustrated and described what I nowconsider to represent its best embodiment. However, I desire to have itunderstood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the inventionmay be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated anddescribed.

I claim:

- 1. An automotive vehicle provided with a dashboard and a front fenderprovided with a downwardly extending outer side wall having an openingtherein near its front end, the dashboard having an opening thereinbehind said fender, the vehicle comprising a generally horizontalperiscope tube mounted beneath the top of the fender and extending fromsaid dashboard opening forward to a point beside said fender opening,the front end portion of the tube having a side opening therein facingthe fender opening, a mirror in the front end of the tube in a positionto reflect backwardly through the tube images formed by light raysentering the fender opening and striking the mirror, a ground glassclosing said dashboard opening for revealing said reflected images tothe driver of the vehicle, means pivotally mounting one edge of saidground glass on a vertical axis at the inner side of said dashboardopening to permit the opposite edge of the glass to be swung away fromthe tube and dashboard, and an upright mirror in the rear end of thetube movable with said glass into a position to reflect said reflectedimages onto the glass.

2. An automotive vehicle according to claim 1, including means forlocking said glass in different positions.

3. An automotive vehicle according to claim 1, including means hingingone edge of said upright mirror on a vertical axis adjacent saidopposite edge of the ground glass.

4. An automotive vehicle according to claim 1, including means hingingone edge of said upright mirror on a vertical axis adjacent saidopposite edge of the ground glass, and means slidably supporting theother edge of the upright mirror for movement lengthwise of the tube.

5. An automotive vehicle according to claim 4, in-

cluding means for locking said glass in different positions.

6. An automotive vehicle according to claim 1, including means spanningthe space between the dashboard opening and the edges of the groundglass to prevent unwanted light from reaching the glass.

7. An automotive vehicle according to claim 6, in which said meansinclude an accordian pleated curtain.

1. An automotive vehicle provided with a dashboard and a front fenderprovided with a downwardly extending outer side wall having an openingtherein near its front end, the dashboard having an opening thereinbehind said fender, the vehicle comprising a generally horizontalperiscope tube mounted beneath the top of the fender and extending fromsaid dashboard opening forward to a point beside said fender opening,the front end portion of the tube having a side opening therein facingthe fender opening, a mirror in the front end of the tube in a positionto reflect backwardly through the tube images formed by light raysentering the fender opening and striking the mirror, a ground glassclosing said dashboard opening for revealing said reflected images tothe driver of the vehicle, means pivotally mounting one edge of saidground glass on a vertical axis at the inner side of said dashboardopening to permit the opposite edge of the glass to be swung away fromthe tube and dashboard, and an upright mirror in the rear end of thetube movable with said glass into a position to reflect said reflectedimages onto the glass.
 2. An automotive vehicle according to claim 1,including means for locking said glass in different positions.
 3. Anautomotive vehicle according to claim 1, including means hinging oneedge of said upright mirror on a vertical axis adjacent said oppositeedge of the ground glass.
 4. An automotive vehicle according to claim 1,including means hinging one edge of said upright mirror on a verticalaxis adjacent said opposite edge of the ground glass, and means slidablysupporting the other edge of the upright mirror for movement lengthwiseof the tube.
 5. An automotive vehicle according to claim 4, includingmeans for locking said glass in different positions.
 6. An automotivevehicle according to claim 1, including means spanning the space betweenthe dashboard opening and the edges of the ground glass to preventunwanted light from reaching the glass.
 7. An automotive vehicleaccording to claim 6, in which said means include an accordian pleatedcurtain.